The Murder at Mckinley Hall

A detective is sent on her first case to a mysterious manor called Mckinley Hall. The lord of the manor, Lord Mckinley, was brutally murdered in his office, suspiciously no one was home apart from the staff. But why would someone want to kill the lord at such a spooky time...

2. Mckinley Hall

The next day Detective Greene went to investigate the crime scene and interview some of the staff and the lord's niece.

I arrived at Mckinley Hall, which as I drove up the long sloping drive I saw a garden filled with an assortment of coloured flowers growing neatly in rows and a variety of toparies of different historical figures (I think i even saw one of Guy Fawkes!) The manor itself was magical, like a king's castle standing in a forest with nothing else in sight apart from the gorgeous gardens, one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen! By the time I had walked up to the door it was coming up for 9:30 AM. The butler opened the door and welcomed me in, he also told me where I might find Rose.

"Ah, the peacefulness of still-life painting..." I sighed. "Oh sorry! I didn't see you there, i'm guessing you're the detective who is investigating my uncle's death right?" Rose said a little startled. She put her paintbrush down staring into space. Rose stood up, shook my hand and offered me a seat, taking one herself. As I looked around the room I noticed a particularly strange object in the corner of the drawing room near the canvas Rose was painting on. It looked like looked like an elephants foot, i'll have to ask Rose about that later...

"Would you like a drink Detective?" Rose asked, pointing to the coffee table in front of her. "No thank you Ms Mckinley; may I ask you a few questions about your uncle's death?" "Yes of course, what would you like to know?" "Where were you at the time of your uncle's death Rose?" "I was out celebrating with a couple of friends at around 3 o'clock. When did he die? The medics wouldn't tell me." "Your uncle died at around 1 am this morning, who were you out with Rose?" "My boyfriend Niall and my best friend Cassie, we were celebrating my 21st and my engagement." Rose said a little forlorn. "This might be the wrong time to say this but congratulations and happy birthday!" Kimberly said, trying to lighten the mood. "Thank you Detective, do you have any further questions you would like to ask me? I have to meet Niall at twelve." Rose said, checking the time. "Just a couple more Rose, It won't take long." Detective Greene said, smiling at her. "Carry on then Detective." Rose said, smiling a little worriedly. Rose wasn't an overly attractive young woman but there was something endearing about her full-lipped, slightly awkward smile... "Now, how did you find your uncle?" "When I walked in this morning I hung my coat up and went straight to bed, I saw my uncle's office light on and thought he was working late so I went it to say goodnight and that was when i found him, face down in a pool of blood with...a...knife...in...his...back!" Rose started full on sobbing after her last broken up words. Kimberly moved to sit next to Rose to comfort her but she pushed her away. "No, please...carry on." Rose said wiping her eyes with a handkerchief she had in her pocket. "Okay, one last question. What did you do after you found your uncle?" The detective said moving back to her original seat. "I called the police and sat next to him until they knocked on the front door, I couldn't do anything else, I was just mesmerised on how much blood my uncle was laying in..." This time Rose said this staring into space. "Okay thank you Rose, may I go look around the manor?" Kimberly said, jotting down all that she had found out. "Of course! Anything that will find the person who did this to my dear uncle!""Thank you Rose, I'll come find you if I need you." The detective said smiling at the young girl. "Oh one more thing Rose! Do you have any documents of all the staff who work here or used to?" "Yes, one second and I will go get them".

Five minutes later Rose returned with a wad of paper which I guessed as all the past and present staff information. "Thank you Rose." I said, taking the pile from the young girl. She smiled her striking smile and I left the room.